OUCH! Free Content gets hurt by enabled Ad Blockers

Novell Inc. outlined its strategy Wednesday to capitalize on its merger with consulting company Cambridge Technology Partners Inc. and become a key provider of both products and services to large businesses.

The plan is to combine Provo, Utah-based Novell’s products with Cambridge’s services to provide enterprises with “solutions” — or product and service combinations — that let them rejigger their business processes to make better use of the Internet, said Jack Messman, Novell’s newly appointed president and chief executive officer (CEO).

The merger with Cambridge Technology Partners Inc., which began last March, will add roughly $500 million to Novell’s sales and an extra 3,400 employees, according to the company.

“Novell made a decision to expand our service offerings,” said Ross Chevalier, director of technology for Novell Canada Ltd. He added that Cambridge employees add valuable new skill sets that Novell currently does not offer to customers — and will not be limited to Novell products for their solutions in the future. “It’s quite conceivable that Cambridge professionals will solve a business problem where none of the components come from Novell.

He added: “One of the things that’s important for consultantcy is the ability to remain objective and to deliver the best solutions to the customer’s business needs,” he said. “That’s been a hallmark for Cambridge – and that’s not going to change.”

Chevalier said Cambridge excels in the fields of CRM, ERP and Web technology. He added that while the new company will increase value to Novell’s consulting services, it will not affect current product or service and support offerings. “Our commitment to our customers haven’t wavered at all. In fact, we think that our customers are going to have an opportunity to leverage solutions from Novell to an even greater extent.”